Our First Anniversary

I really can't believe it's been a year since our wedding, October 30, 2010. It's been so wonderful - married life is even better than I ever dreamed. Tom and I have had such a good time, and we are looking forward to all the experiences to come that God has in store for us. In honor of our anniversary, I'll devote this blog post to our story. I'm sure some of you have heard this a million times while for others, it's the first. Either way, I hope you enjoy :-)

How we met...

Tom and I came from different high schools to start as college freshman in August of 2004. We met in an Engineering Physics lab the second week of school. I got lost finding the room (it was our first lab) and came in late to find only one or two seats empty. I went to sit down, and this guy next to me turned to let me know that stool was broken. He got up and got me a different stool, and flustered, I sat down. Next, we had to get into groups. As I looked around totally lost, he asked me to join his group. The rest, they say, is history...

I took notice of Tom for several reasons that night - As we were working on our lab, it became abuntantly clear that I had no idea what I was doing, and he was right at home. As we answered the questions, I had to totally rely on him because I had no clue. We got to this particularly long, wordy question in the form of a paragraph that began with "Explain how the ..." I read the question, turned to see Tom skim it, and then write simply "Yes" and move on. I was met with a predicament - I knew I knew nothing about Physics, but I was fairly sure the answer wasn't yes. So, I tried to very politely say - Umm... I don't think yes is the answer to that one... He read it again and laughed out loud and started over. I was flabbergasted! I mean, here we are - the new kids at a very big school trying to fit in and make friends! I would have been so embarrassed, and he just laughed at himself and went on like nothing happened. I took a liking to Tom right then.

As we finished lab, I said I was going to a block party to meet up with some friends from high school. He said he'd come, too. I was glad to have someone to walk with me as it was about 8 pm and very dark. We chatted for a while, and I mentioned that my computer had somehow gotten a virus and wasn't working. Tom offered to come look at it for me which I gladly agreed to! As we were walking to my dorm, I started thinking - are you crazy? what are you doing? you don't know this guy, and you know your roommate isn't home! what if he's an axe murderer?! So I called my friend, Cliff, who also lived at the same dorm and asked him to meet us there. Long story short, Tom, bless his sweet heart, spent two hours fixing not just my computer but my roommate, Jennifer's, too. After that, we became the best of friends and spent a lot of time together studying, going to games and events, and just enjoying college life. We started dating January 7, 2005, and it's been so amazing sharing life with him ever since. Here's the first digital picture I have of us - taken at the end of freshman year.

Our engagement...
So fast forward to Friday, March 26, 2010. We had both graduated from college and were working. Tom was living in another state but was coming into town that night to spend the weekend with me. I got off work at 2 to go to the grocery store and finish getting ready for his visit. When I walked out to my car, this is what I found...

I was really confused.... I called Tom immediately and started looking all around. When he answered, I said, "Someone left a rose on my car - do you know anything about that?" Basically, he responded with, "I might... Why don't you come to your apartment to find out?" And I must admit, dear readers - I had been hoping Tom would propose for months, but somehow, I didn't see it coming. The thought didn't even enter my head. I was just excited he was in town already! Dense, I know. When I arrived at my apartment, the door was cracked, and when I opened it, here's what I saw...

Now, here's my favorite part of the story (which Tom vehemently denies, but I know the truth) - I ran in and got down on my knees to hug him. When I pulled away, he said, "Can I change knees?" Lol - apparently, he'd been on that one knee for 10 mins waiting on me to get there. His proposal was so beautiful and heartfelt. It was a great day. Here's one of my favorite engagement pictures...

I really enjoyed wedding planning - some people may think I'm crazy, and maybe I am - but it was just right down my alley. Our October wedding was just fabulous - the colors were so rich and beautiful, the weather was perfect, the trees were changing - God really gave me a perfect day to marry my best friend. Here's some of my favorite wedding pictures...

 (this crazy look on my face is because I literally could not see through all the bubbles!)

We honeymooned in a little cabin outside of Pigeon Forge, TN - it was exactly what we wanted! Here's the view from the cabin so you can see what I mean.

For our anniversary, we went to Pine Mountain, GA, to stay in a little Bed and Breakfast, which I'd never done before. It was really neat! We enjoyed it a lot, and I'm sure we'll be doing a lot more of that in the future. We spent one beautiful day at Callaway Gardens including doing their new Tree Top Adventure obstacle course. It was awesome, and we had such a great time! Pictures of that in my next post :-) We spent our second day at FDR State Park canoeing and then at the Little White House. This little getaway was just what we needed.

I will admit I spent a large part of our canoe trip taking pictures and yelling "Row! Row!" (Geico commercial anyone? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU6hmgTY76M) Lol - but I really did do a lot of rowing, too. It was so peaceful out there on the lake. I hope we start doing a lot more stuff like this.

Lastly, I'll leave you with some tasty tidbits - my wonderful husband makes the best omelets around! He made me this one when we got home from our anniversary trip - ham, cheese, onions, and red peppers with salsa on the side. Yum!

That last picture is some home-made-up broccoli cheese soup Tom and I created the other night - I had a bunch of excess broccoli from a baby shower I hosted that I had to do something with so we got creative. It actually turned out very well! Just cream of mushroom soup, steamed broccoli (that I put in the food processor), sherry, milk, chicken broth, salt, seasoned pepper, and a little flour - oh, plus a ton of shredded cheddar cheese :-) Bon appetit!